A couple of weeks ago was Buddha's Birthday. We had a four day weekend and decided to take this golden opportunity to take a trail to Busan, Korea. Alex and I tried getting KTX high speed train tickets a month in advance, but since it was such a busy travel weekend, the tickets were already sold out. So we ended up on the "slow" train, where we traveled just about the length of the country in 5 hours.
When we arrived, we hit the ground running before even going to our hostel. Our first stop was the Busan tower to get a lay of the land. We then headed to the famous Jagalchi Fish Market. We were told it is one of the largest fish markets in Asia. We figured this was as good a place as any to try Sannakji or live octopus. Check out the video.
The massive building at the bottom is Jagalchi Fish Market
Hunting it down
Gwangan Bridge
Gwangan Bridge
This is a thing
Please don't eat me.
She just caught a live fish to show a customer and ask if it will do. Kind of like a bottle of wine at a nice restaurant.
I was taking a picture of the restaurant sign above this couple. They thought I was sneakily taking a picture of them until I pointed above them to the sign. They were cool so I gestured if they wanted me to take a picture of them after all. They complied. I love Koreans.
Our chef Jacky of Jacky's Seafood. We think this guy may be a celebrity chef. There were pictures of him in the restaurant of him on TV.
We have been waiting for the right time to try Sannakji (live octapus) and what better place than Jagalchi Market? We found this legit looking stall on the 2nd floor of the market called Jacky's Seafood. We told the waitress we'd like Sannakji and she gasped in surprise. I think she thought we were brave for gringos. It is apparently a dangerous thing to eat because of the suction cups on the tentacles. It is possible for the suction cups to stick to your esophagus on the way down and the heimlich will not help to dislodge them. So, yes. It is possible to die from eating this.
The plate came with a dozen side dishes that filled us up more than we had anticipated. When the Sannakji came, it was squirming all over the plate. It was cut up in small pieces and covered in sesame oil for our safety. As you'll see, it was quite difficult to pick up.
After getting a grip on it and dipping it in the usual red pepper sauce, it was delicious. It was tender and fun. While chewing, you could feel and hear the suction cups popping like pop rocks. I took my time to make sure I chomped on each suction before attempting to swallow. I would definitely have this again.
I dusted off my nifty fifty low light camera and we headed to Seoul. We had heard that the Lotus Lantern festival was one of the biggest in Seoul and figured we should check it out. There was to be a big parade of more than 100,000 lanterns to celebrate Buddha's birthday.
We headed to Jongo Station and watched the procession march endlessly down Jongo Street. I wasn't sure how interesting it would be, but the scale of it alone was mouth dropping. Also, if you like low light photography, this is the place.
